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Researchers Model Pluto's Atmosphere, Find 225 Mph Winds

Posted by timothy on from the go-model-a-kite dept.

MatthewVD writes "Pluto may have been downgraded to a dwarf planet, but researchers modeling its wisp of an atmosphere continue to find that it is a surprisingly complex world, particularly when it comes to weather patterns. Howling winds that sweep clockwise around the planet at up to 225 mph — though the atmosphere is so thin, it would only feel like 1 mph on Earth. The algorithms used to model the atmosphere will be helpful in studying far more complex atmospheres, like Earth's."

1 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Models of models of models by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    So, we're using the methodolgy that is insufficient to model the earth's atmosphere, to model an object that we cannot test directly, and claim it will help understand the complex systems?

    I applaud the attempt at creating a more complete guess about the nature of a distant planet (full or dwarf), but without a way to test the predictions, this has very little use in refining the models.